Legislative Powwow Could Cost $94,000

TALLAHASSEE — The state is expected to spend at least $94,000 next month to send almost half of the Legislature, 13 staff members and two lobbyists to a five-day conference in Seattle.

Thirty-three of the 40 members of the Senate and 46 of the 120 House members plan to attend the annual National Conference of State Legislatures Aug. 5-9, according to documents in the offices of House speaker and Senate president.

Six Senate staff members, seven House staffers and two lobbyists for Gov. Bob Graham's office also plan to make the trip.

Each state official who attends is expected to spend about $1,000 on air fare, hotel rooms and meals, said Gerri Balthaser, staff director of the House Administration Committee, which is handling the travel arrangements for House members.

Several lobbyists for private companies also plan to attend. Some said Monday that the allure of a tax-free trip in an attractive location and the opportunity to buttonhole so many legislators at one time prompted them to schedule the trip.

''It's an excellent opportunity'' to talk with legislators on a less formal basis, said David Walker, a lobbyist for Southern Bell Telephone. ' ''It gives you a chance to sit down and talk without the rush-rush atmosphere.''

Lobbyist Billy Herrell, whose clients include pari-mutuel and agriculture groups, said the conference ''enables me to have an opportunity to visit with a number of members on a less frantic basis than you would normally have.''

One lobbyist who asked not to be named said he only attends the conferences if they are held in places he would like to visit. ''From my perspective, I would say it's a basis for me to go on a business trip to a place where I would like to go where it's a deductible item,'' he said.

Senate interest in the conferences has increased dramatically in the last few years. When it was held in San Antonio, Texas, in 1983, only 11 senators made the trip. Just two senators went to the New York conference in 1982.

Last year, when the convention was held in Boston, 20 House members and 18 senators attended.

''This probably is one of the larger crowds we've had,'' said Senate Secretary Joe Brown, who has been involved in the conference every year.

''Two other times I remember a big turnout -- when it was in San Francisco and when it was in Atlanta. I think Atlanta was popular because of the proximity.''

One state official who is attending the conference said he would be interested to see how many legislators sign up for next year's conference in Indianapolis.

Senate President Harry Johnston and House Speaker James Harold Thompson allowed any lawmaker who wanted to go to the conference this year to attend.

''We have such little out of state travel,'' Johnston said.

''It's the one thing I've allowed every senator who wants to go to go to. It's very good.''

Several legislators, including Johnston, are using the trip as a jump-off point for their vacations.

Johnston is planning to go to Alaska before the conference.

Thompson tried to impose some guidelines on which lawmakers could attend the trip, but had trouble finding fair criteria, said Fred Breeze, Thompson's top aide.

''The more he looked at it, the more he thought it would be just arbitrary picking and choosing,'' Breeze said. ''So pretty much everybody who requested it is going. He decided that since we had held the line on everything else, this would be okay.''

Thompson is not attending the conference, but Speaker-designate Jon Mills, D-Gainesville, and all of his closest allies are on the list of those planning to go.

Thompson said he is not going because he wants to avoid criticism.

The conference agenda includes seminars on hospital cost containment, state budgeting, child abuse and education reforms, all issues that have been discussed in Florida.

Johnston said he has attended four of the conferences and considers them worthwhile.

''The principle advantage is the opportunity to talk to legislators from other states,'' he said.

One high-ranking state official who has attended previous conferences said they are primarily ''a turkey shoot for lobbyists who wine, dine and fete these legislators in a way they would love to do in Tallahassee, but can't because there's too many people competing for the legislator's ear.''